Brasil Hangover Salad

Lovely lovely warm music-in-the-streets life-loving Rio. Very unlovely hangover. I won't claim this salad cured my hangover, but it did enable me to make it the few blocks to the beach and a fresh coconut full of life sustaining head clearing electrolyte-filled water. The salad took a whopping hour to make, but only on account of massive hangover slow motion.

The Baghdad version would have dried figs and dried coconut carted in from Jordan and no cilantro, unless we brought it in fresh from Amman and then got a hangover within three days before it went off and was forgotten in the depths of the fridge. If I really were hungover in Baghdad, by the way, I'd try to con Sara into going to the cafeteria for the spinach, since that's a long walk in the scorching sun with no coconuts or spontaneous bossa nova along the way. If she wouldn't, I'd probably eat the ingredients sans spinach in bed while watching reruns of Dead Like Me and whining.

Brasil Hangover Salad
2 cups spinach
1 large handful cilantro, de-stemmed
1/4 cup shredded coconut, fresh (2 T if dried)
1 mango, cubes
2 figs, sliced
2 T almonds
1 T pumpkin seeds
1 T sunflower seeds
1 t balsamic vinegar
1 t olive oil
1 t lavender pepper

Toss in a big bowl, and mind the knife in your hungover state...

P.S. Have you had this new-fangled lavender pepper? It's black pepper mixed with dried lavender buds and a touch of sea salt. It adds an incredible little note to salads and veggies. (You can make your own by adding dried lavender to your pepper grinder and giving it a shake). Be careful about getting carried away with this new taste sensation and over-peppering, as you don't want to choke on a particularly peppery mouthful. Just sayin'.

Like a Gentle Breeze in Your Mouth

Tonight we hosted our first ever entirely-raw dinner party. OK. It wasn't entirely raw, but that truly wasn't our fault. Due to convoy delays and various other co-factors, things were tight at the cafeteria - aka grocery shop - the last couple days. And some ingredients, namely mushrooms and cauliflower, we will never get raw. Let's say there was nothing not raw that wouldn't have been raw if it could have been raw.

Besides our delic "save the moo-eat" from last night's Mexican extravaganza, pineapple-cucumber skewers, bok choy salad, and our clever idea to wrap everything on the table in big pieces of lettuce (thank you, sandwich bar), the dinner was Ani Phyo East Meets West, Desserts or Raw Food Essentials. She's a genius. Here's what we served:

Appetizers

Pineapple Cucumber Skewers with Ginger Dipping Sauce

Crudite Platter (carrots, celery, radish, cucumber) with "Peanut" Thai Dipping Sauce

Tomato Coconut Bisque

Main Course
Mixed Vegetables and Mango with Yellow Curry

"Save the Moo-eat" Lettuce Wraps with Corn and Tomato Garnish and Cashew Garlic Aioli

Mushroom Namul Lettuce Wraps with Mango Sauce

Bok Choy-Onion-Orange salad

Dessert
Peach Cobbler (variation of Mango Cobbler - serious YUM)

Chai Ice Cream
Coconut Ice Cream
Assorted Chocolates

The chocolates were new to me, and they were very cool - easy to make and set in a few minutes. I used our egg holder (which we have for what eggs??) as a mold and followed the ratio of two parts coconut oil to one part cocoa powder, plus a dash of agave. Before pouring the chocolate into the molds, I sprinkled cocoa nibs into each, and added goji berries or coconut to some. I also flavored some of the chocolate mint or almond. The result was delicious bites of chocolately goodness. When I find a raw caramel recipe, I'll try caramel sea salt filled chocolates. Yum.

P.S. Credit to Te for these lovely photos, and for the post title: she declared the Cashew Aioli, "like a gentle breeze in your mouth." Agreed.